About to sign my life away for a D700

Sony Sonnar T* 35mm F2.8 ZA

04/03/2011 07:09:51 AM · #1

Hiya all,

Been a while since I've started a thread but I thought this was worthy! I have found a really good 0% finance deal on a new D700 and 24-70 f/2,8 and I'm panicking a little bit. It comes in in the region of £3000 for both, which when photography is a very secondary job is a lot of money. In fact it's a lot of money if it's your primary job.

I'll be trading in my D90 and 18-105mm. I'm going to be doing a wedding or two in the near future and I felt like a needed an upgrade, and full frame was calling! I have a couple of reservations:

1) The D700 has been out for a couple of years now I think, does anyone know if there is a replacement close on the horizon?

2) I can't really afford to upgrade all my glass, and I don't often use a long lens, but is it going to be a massive sin to use my existing 200mm lens on this beauty occasionally?

3) Is it going to be as awesome as I hope it will?!

Thanks for your help, I need soothing words to make this happen!

J

salmiakki

Sony Alpha a7R III

04/03/2011 07:14:43 AM · #2

1) Rumour has it the D800 is on the cards, but based on the recent events in Japan, I suppose this could be delayed (I'm wanting to upgrade to a D700/D800 too but I'm going to wait for the new one)
2) As I understand it, if you use the existing lens, your D700 works like a cropped format and images will be 6 mega pixels, so although it will work it won't work as a full frame.
3) I can't answer as I haven't got it yet!

The other two points are things I have read whilst (im)patiently waiting for the D800

04/03/2011 07:54:03 AM · #3

Ok no worries, I suspected it might be out soon. I just don't want to be still paying for a camera 12 months down the line when the newer model is out.

Would it be worth just getting the glass for the time being and then upgrading the body later? How often is that lens updated?

jjstager2

04/03/2011 09:28:56 AM · #4

I've been coveting the D700 for a while. It's really quite a camera.

You will be amazed at the quality of the 24-70. It is my "work horse" lens I use most of the time. Shot several weddings with it and it is a superb lens for that as long as you are not in cramped quarters with heavy crowds.

The good news about the D800 is that the D700 will become more affordable once the D800 comes out.

04/03/2011 09:53:27 AM · #5

That's great, I'm so tempted to for the d700 anyway, the price at the moment is 1700 down from 2500 and I'm wondering how much cheaper it will actually be when the new model comes out, it's already pretty discounted. I'd imagine that the d800 would be in the region of £2500 when it comes out!

blad

Sony Sonnar T* 35mm F2.8 ZA

Nikon MF 28mm f/2.0 AIS

04/03/2011 11:30:53 AM · #6

I am also also considering the d700. can anybody elaborate on your #2 statement regarding lens deficiency.

Originally posted by salmiakki:

salmiakki

Sony Alpha a7R III

04/03/2011 11:49:17 AM · #7

Here's one good description of the topic
DX Lens on FX Camera

jbsmithana

Nikon D300

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.0G IF-ED

04/03/2011 11:51:54 AM · #8

Originally posted by JimiRose:

1) The D700 has been out for a couple of years now I think, does anyone know if there is a replacement close on the horizon?

from what I read yes

2) I can't really afford to upgrade all my glass, and I don't often use a long lens, but is it going to be a massive sin to use my existing 200mm lens on this beauty occasionally?

with the workhorse 24-70 you should be ok but my guess is you will want something wider eventually - As for longer I don't do weddings but I know many who do and they all love the 70-200 - the quality of the 55-200 is a bit suspect

3) Is it going to be as awesome as I hope it will?!

Your photography and processing are already so good I can't help but think that the D700 will be the cherry on top

SteveJ

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

04/03/2011 11:53:53 AM · #9

The D700 is a full frame camera, a D300 is a 1.5x crop factor camera, all down to sensor used.

If a lens is marked as DX, it is designed for use with crop factor DSLRs. FX lenses can be used on both crop factor and full frame. So, if you use the Nikkor 70-300mm FX lens on a D300/D90 etc, it will give you 105-450mm zoon approx at 12 megapixels? Use the same lens on a D700 it will give you 70-300mm at 12 megapixels.

Use an Nikkor 18-200mm DX lens on the D300/D90, you get 27-300mm on a crop factor as this lens is designed for this sensor. Now, if you use the same lens on a D700 you will find the outer portion of the viewfinder is dark as the design reduces the size of the resulting photo, it cuts the 12 megapixels down to 6 megapixels. Still usuable if you don't need the normal 12 megapixel sized photo.

I use my Sigma 10-20mm DX on the D700 and it still produces high quality photos(there is no degradation using the lens on FF) but a smaller size.

Hope that makes sense. If you use FX, you get full frame, use DX, you get crop factor.

04/03/2011 05:36:15 PM · #10

That's great thanks for the advice guys.

I really want to get this camera but I suppose my biggest question is if I do get it and a new one comes out, will I be "losing" loads of money? WIll I regret it? I don't know if there are answers to these questions, but the wedding I'm doing is next week and if I'm going to do it, it'll be in the next couple of days, so it's kind of forcing me to make a decision.

Rmac

Nikon D4s

04/03/2011 05:39:55 PM · #11

Originally posted by JimiRose:

I just can't imagine you will ever regret getting a D700..I love mine..

kenskid

04/03/2011 06:21:27 PM · #12

Mine will be here by Wednesday. I sold a lot of stuff to get it and still I will owe ! I will also have to give up the D90 body. I'm keeping all of my glass.

On another note...is that 1700 in dollars? If so, where did you see that? I will refuse delivery on mine if I can get it for $800 less !

Kenny

Originally posted by JimiRose:

Neil

Fujifilm X-T30

04/03/2011 06:41:44 PM · #13

Is there still a lens rebate when buying a body? When I bought my D7000 I got $400 off on the 70-200 2.8 and $300 off other lenses (including the 24-70). I heard not to long ago that Nikon had extended the deal....

blad

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

Nikon MF 28mm f/2.0 AIS

04/03/2011 08:34:14 PM · #14

does anybody have details as whether the older A1 nikkor manual primes respond to the d700 and will function as a fx or dx lens?

imagesbytlp

Nikon D7100

04/03/2011 09:57:53 PM · #15

I'm of the opinion that camera bodies come and go...but, great glass can be with you for quite a while!! Go with the glass and get the camera when you feel more comfortable.

Sony Sonnar T* 35mm F2.8 ZA

04/05/2011 01:43:45 PM · #16

Is the 24-70 FX the equivalent to 18-55 DX in terms of focal length?

salmiakki

Sony Alpha a7R III

04/05/2011 01:58:45 PM · #17

multiply the DX focal length by 1.5 and that will tell you what the full frame focal length equivalent is. so 18-55 is more like 27-80. But roughly the same.

tanguera

Nikon D750

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

04/05/2011 02:33:29 PM · #18

I have the D90 and recently bought the D700. I LOVE it. No regrets. Didn't want to wait for the D800 which is rumored to be out in the near future.

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

04/05/2011 03:12:25 PM · #19

Nikon, pffft. Samsung is the way to go !
:-)

LevT

Olympus OM-1

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

04/05/2011 03:37:44 PM · #20

d700 is awesome... but what else would you expect from a guy who owns it?

I had a similar dilemma on what lenses to get when I transitioned to FF. What I finally converged to, is the new Nikon 28-300mm as a workhorse walkaround lens, plus Nikon 20mm when I need to go wide, and 70-200mm when I need reach in low light situations and/or ultimate quality. Of course, I have a few other lenses to play with, but this is the main set. I highly recommend this 28-300, versatile, good optical quality, stabilized, quiet and fast focus, and reasonably (for Nikon :)) priced.

tanguera

Nikon D750

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

04/05/2011 03:48:15 PM · #21

Originally posted by LevT:

I have the same lens. Use it the same way as Lev. Love it. But for wider needs, I've played with the Sigma 24-70. AWESOME lens. Saving up for that one.

chromeydome

Nikon D7000